HTC Desire 816 Picture special

In February we managed to get a brief hands on the Desire 816. Sadly we didn’t get long with it and, at the time, nobody was allowed to turn it on.

This week we’ve got some proper hands-on time with the handset. I’ve already fiddled with it for a day and my initial reaction is one of annoyance.

I’m annoyed because this is a brilliant phone. This is a lower-priced, larger and plastic version of the HTC One M8. It’s got the dual BoomSound speakers and a large clear screen. It’s pretty nippy too, and the plastic construction really isn’t a terrible thing at all. Put this all together with a very stylish design and I’m annoyed because it just proves yet again how brilliant HTC phones are, but I just know that people will pay more and get themselves a Samsung Galaxy S5.

HTC are getting pushed into the shadows somewhat by Samsung and Apple even while they continue to produce stylish, strong and functional phones. This is definitely one.

The Desire 816 has a 5.5″ 720p HD screen and is powered by a quad-core 1.6GHz CPU. It has 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB storage with a microSD card slot for another 128GB if you need it. There’s the usual sensors, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA and a 2600 mAh battery. The camera at the back is a 13 megapixel unit with a BSI sensor, f/2.2, 28mm lens and 1080p video recording. The selfie shooter up front is a 5 megapixel cam.

If you want one, places like Clove are selling them for around £240 unlocked. You can get a range of colours. We’ll have a full review online soon.